IOC vice-president John Coates says Rio is "not ready in many, many ways"
but it is too late to find an alternative host

International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates has criticised Brazil’s preparations for the 2016 Rio Games as “the worst I have experienced” but has warned that it is too late to find an alternative host.

In a stinging rebuke to Games organisers and Brazilian politicians, Coates said preparations were critically behind schedule and that the IOC had been forced to take the unprecedented step of sending in its own task force, including a construction project manager, to speed up building work.

Coates, a member of the IOC’s coordination commission which is overseeing Games preparations, said he had made six visits to Rio and the situation was worse than Athens in 2004, where the city came close to being stripped of the Games because of the massive delays.

But Coates warned there was no alternative to Rio and that the city simply had to meet its deadlines.

"The IOC has adopted a more hands-on role,” said Coates. “It is unprecedented for the IOC but there is no plan B. We are going to Rio.

“We have become very concerned. They are not ready in many, many ways. We have to make it happen and that is the IOC approach. You can't walk away from this."

Speaking at an Olympic forum in Sydney, Australia, Coates said the situation in Rio was “critical”, with construction yet to begin on some venues and significant delays to infrastructural projects. He also said the city faced major social issues.

His remarks echo concerns raised previously by football’s world governing body, Fifa, who criticised the long delays in the delivery of stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup, which kicks off on June 12.

Coates, who headed the Australian Olympic Committee when Sydney hosted the Olympics in 2000, said: "I think this is a worse situation than Athens. In Athens we were dealing with one government and some city responsibilities. Here, there are three.

"There is little co-ordination between the federal, the state government and the city, which is responsible for a lot of the construction, and this is against a city that's got social issues that also have to be addressed and a country that's also trying to deal with the Fifa World Cup coming up in a few months. It's the worst that I've experienced."